


Protector

by Rookblonkorules



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, Gen, Human Trafficking (mentioned), Hurt Winry Rockbell, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Parental Roy Mustang, Parental Roywin, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Post-Canon, Protective Roy Mustang, Winry Rockbell Angst, Winry Rockbell needs a hug, no explicit content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26726044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rookblonkorules/pseuds/Rookblonkorules
Summary: Father and his Homunculi have been overthrown, but that doesn’t mean every evil in Amestris has been uprooted. There's still plenty more.In which Roy rescues Winry from human traffickers.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell (implied), Roy Mustang & Winry Rockbell
Comments: 6
Kudos: 59





	Protector

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I love parental RoyEd, I absolutely adore parental RoyWin, but there's not a whole lot of it. Plus, Winry has become my favorite FMA character. Seriously, I love this girl so much. Thus, this was born.

Winry sits still as Roy undoes the gag. When it finally falls away, she makes no sound other than to sharply inhale. 

Roy tosses the damp rag away from him with distaste and sets to work on the knots binding her wrists behind her back. 

“Are you hurt?” he asks. “Did they touch you?”

“No.” Her tone is dull. She keeps her eyes down. “No, they didn’t.” He doesn’t miss the pink flush to her cheeks nor the way she hides her face, though she has nothing to be ashamed of. None of this is her fault.

He can’t help but regret that Hawkeye isn’t the one here dealing with the aftermath. He thinks she’d be far better offering the comfort.

Roy has always been the clumsier of the two when it comes to emotions. 

Still- thank heaven for small mercies. 

She’s been a captive for more than a few hours now and, while he’s angered and ashamed that it took them this long to find her, he’s very aware of just how worse things could have been. 

Human traffickers are the very worst of human scum.

His eyes land on the men currently being escorted out of the building in cuffs. If one of them had touched her, he’s not sure he could have controlled himself.

He’s almost surprised by the vehemence of his reaction. 

She’s not his daughter, but that doesn’t seem to stop him from feeling like her father. And it all started with those damned Elric brothers, practically forcing him to go soft.

The rope around her wrists finally falls away, revealing skin that’s been chafed red.

The sight awakens fresh anger in his gut.

Once her wrists are freed, she quickly wraps them around herself, hugging herself tight.

“Is Ed here?”

He’s not surprised that that’s her first question. 

“No,” he answers. 

Even though he’s lost alchemy, Ed hasn’t left the military. Still, lacking any sort of alchemist ability means he won’t be cleared for any sort of active duty until he’s completed his new training regiment. 

“Oh.” Winry seems to curl a little further in on herself. 

“He’s waiting for you though.” Roy shrugs off his jacket and wraps it around her shoulders. Her thin fingers grasp it and pull it tighter. He puts an arm around her shoulder and offers her his hand, assisting her to her feet. 

She’s trembling, so minutely that it’s hardly noticeable. 

Roy notices and he pulls her a little closer against his side. 

There are still men being handcuffed and led out. 

Winry hesitates, stumbles and comes to a stand still, unsure. 

“You don’t have to look at them,” he murmurs reassuringly. There’s an uncharacteristic gentleness to his tone that he’s never used with either Elric brother.

Somehow she brings that side of him out. 

Winry nods, but she presses harder against him anyways. 

That’s alright. He’s more than willing to shield her from their eyes. 

He keeps his arm around her shoulders as he carefully guides her out of the building. 

He doesn’t see Hawkeye once he’s out on the street. He assumes that means she must be somewhere still helping with the cleanup efforts. 

She claimed they hadn’t touched her and she appears to be physically harmed, outside of the chafing on her wrists and looking a bit more on the disheveled side, but she would still need to get checked out.

Just in case. 

He’s fairly confident there’s nothing of note he doesn’t know about. Winry isn’t Edward. She doesn’t see fit to tempt him to tear out his own hair by hiding any sort of damage.

But he’s also aware that he is a man and that this is a sensitive situation. 

There are things she might not feel comfortable talking to him about and, at the end of the day, he’ll feel better if he knows someone professional has seen and cleared her.

There are no medical personnel present at the scene, not that he can see anyways. 

Which means he’ll need to find some. Or a phone to call them.

Or at least find someone who can find all those things for him, because… he doesn’t think he should be leaving Winry. 

“Wait here.” He gently guides Winry to a place on the sidewalk where she could sit down and rest. It’s far enough away from the action, but still close enough that she’ll be looked after. “EMTs should be arriving soon.”  _ If they aren’t here already.  _ But he still hasn’t seen any telltale uniforms so it’s likely they aren’t. “I’ll find someone who can…”

He’s about to call a man over to keep her company- the perpetrators may be in custody now, but he won’t be leaving a victim alone. 

“Wait!” Winry grabs his hand before he can go, holding to it tightly. “Please don’t go.”

Something in Roy relents at that. He’s… never been very good in the role of comforter. He and Riza had always somehow been able to depend on each other without saying much in regards to what they had both been through. 

He doesn’t have that connection with Winry though. He’s unsure of what she needs. 

He’s not going to leave her alone. That much he knows for certain.

“Alright.” He sits beside her on the sidewalk. He puts his arm back around her. After a moment, he feels her shaking. Her head comes to rest against his chest. For a split second, he’s so stunned by this moment of complete trust that he forgets to check if she’s still okay. 

“Winry…” She’s crying against his chest before he makes it past her name. 

Oh.  _ Oh.  _

This poor kid. 

His arms encircle her- both arms this time. He might be awkward with emotions at the very best of times, he might be shit with words unless he’s trading burns with Fullmetal, but he’s fairly confident that he can give a decent hug. 

That much, at least, he can do.


End file.
